Lucy Turnbull slammed online after praising transformation of multi-level car park into social housing project in Paris
The wife of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who was dubbed "Mr Harbourside Mansion" by Peta Credlin, shared a post on Thursday about a seven-storey parking garage which has been converted into 10 levels of public housing.
Ms Turnbull was wowed by the development and shared it to X.
"This is how to do it! Good design plus affordable housing," she wrote.
But the former Sydney Lord Mayor was quickly skewered by Australians online questioning whether she would be as receptive if a similar project was erected next to the Turnbulls' own multi-million-dollar Point Piper mansion.
"When you live in a $150 million house and advocate for others to live in social housing, what's that called?" one social media user wrote.
Another commented: "Honestly Lucy, would you like to live in it?"
"Fantastic! Hopefully they build a couple of those 'affordable housing' projects right next to your place - so you can truly enjoy them in all their glory," a third added.
"Lol, you and Mal are real popular with the masses hey Lucy? Stay in your ivory tower," a fourth user said.
A lot of users mocked the millionaire couple and suggested Point Piper could also play host to social housing.
"Fantastic! Hopefully they build a couple of those 'affordable housing' projects right next to your place - so you can truly enjoy them in all their glory," one said.
"Could get a few of these in some old buildings around Point Piper," another added.
Ms Turnbull, who have a reported combined net worth of about $200 million with her husband, is an urbanist and former Lord Mayor of Sydney in the early 2000s.
She has previously advocated for more social housing, urban renewal around inner Sydney.
The inner-city suburbs where Ms Turnbull has called for more "affordable retail housing and market-priced housing" are a far cry from the glamorous streets of Point Piper.
The Turnbulls bought their Tuscan-style palatial abode in 1994 for more than $5.4 million.
But their home is now valued at a whopping $150 million, according to Realestate.com.au.
"The waterfront property, the only in the area with direct access to Lady Martin's beach, is estimated to be worth about $150m," the website says.
"Mr Turnbull bought the home in 1994 for $5.45m, considered an astronomical price at the time, and later expanded the waterfront by snapping up part of the property next door."
The former prime minister even turned his back on the grand official residences of his lofty office and opted instead to reside at his waterfront abode.
The Paris building underwent "extensive" renovations which saw three additional floors included using a mixed-wood metal structure, frame facade and wood cladding.
The restoration will "preserve" almost the entire 1957-built garage, located in the 11th arrondissement of the French capital, and includes courtyards and gardens.
In an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald, Ms Turnbull suggested there was an opportunity to renew publicly-owned land at Redfern-Waterloo and Surry Hills.
Currently occupied by public housing, Ms Turnbull said it could be renovated and turned into "affordable retail housing and market-priced housing".
"In Redfern-Waterloo we have an abundance of new transport infrastructure and not enough new housing. This has to stop," she wrote in the SMH in March.
"We need a model for public-private partnerships where publicly owned land is not completely divested. There has to be a smart blend of publicly and privately owned housing.
"An important general question is how and where should new housing be located?
"What new housing can be delivered at least cost to government so it can afford to deliver more of it? There is not enough consideration given to this, and the public needs to be able to understand the nature of the problem too."
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